Clashing Steel and Silver Moons
by trekkiesdeductions
Summary: Zarra Fang is from Erudite. Unknowing of her surroundings, she tries to survive the pressures of staying true to her new faction, and confronting evil, lies, and love, including initiation. First in an untitled series.
1. Divided

_Wait, I must prevent my own demise. (As I fall, Life is existence eternal.) Divergent. No Alligant stuff. No Tris, No Four; Alternate Universe with ocs. All rights to authors. Fixed formatting._

Black. Trains. Brave. Dauntless.

Blue. Rude. Wise. Erudite.

Grey. Selfless. Leaders. Abnegation.

Black and white. Truth. Candor.

Yellow and Red. Peace. Amity.

This is the world I live in; defined by one characteristic. We function as a whole, but on one day, I choose. I have a choice from the five, including the one I live in, and I must test first, then choose my fate. Its quite funny that one prominent characteristic can define one test, and then make us choose somewhere to live. I believe that this is wise for at least how long this has stood, this society. Then again, I'm from Erudite, the wise ones, who like to bicker with Abnegation for leader position.

I'm the oldest of three, have the best scores in my class, and do not quite believe the whole competition thing. My name is Zarra Fang. I look like none of my family, as my father has blonde hair and green eyes and my mother has brown hair and hazel eyes. My father works for the leader circle, and my mother works in the archives in the library. My younger brother, Orion, has mothers hair yet fathers eyes, and my sister, Rosella, who's turning 13 this year, has long blonde hair and hazel eyes. I turned out to be the odd one, with long, wavy jet black hair and sapphire blue eyes.

My birthday is in December, on the darkest day of the year. I have no use in Erudite, I feel empty. I actually like helping people, so people call me an Abnegation lover. It's not really a problem for me, so I really don't have that many friends. Everything is for competition and convenience. Marriage, friends, anything is for the price of succeeding. We don't exactly get along with Candor, as we can be corrupt and deceitful and they are brutally honest. I'm honest. I sometimes lie, even for the smallest things.

I go against the manifesto by taking runs along the perimeter. I can go for a while now, passing the factionless in the streets to the marketplace in Candor. I sneak out at night to research combat and strategy techniques. I am brave, I strategize, I know the history of our nation, and the "reasons" why this society is active today. I sometimes draw after our tests that we take, once drawing a raven in flight, with lilies spiraling up the sides. I got in trouble for that, being scolded that it was not in relation to our manifesto. 'Ignorance' is defined not as stupidity but as lack of knowledge. Lack of knowledge inevitably leads to lack of understanding. Lack of understanding leads to a disconnect among people with differences. Disconnection among people with differences leads to conflict. Knowledge is the only logical solution to the problem of conflict. I really wonder if they understand how I am different. I am wary of leaving however, because it involves something I most fear: betrayal.

My oldest brother, who no one speaks of, is my role model in a way. He was kind, but stubborn in his ways and mostly, what I admire most about him, is that he is brave. His name is Cinna, and he transferred to Dauntless, which caused an uproar and accusations of betrayal. I feel more unwanted to any fraction, especially my own. Like Cinna, I feel that Erudite isn't the right fractions for me. I feel that the betrayal will cripple me, and I will fall to my demise. At least I will get a better picture today, as I am to take the aptitude test. I put on a black dress that ends at my knees and a blue scarf to obey the erudite manifesto: Each member must wear at least one article of blue clothing per day. Erudite's main color is blue, as it is a "calming color that helps stimulate the brain".

Typical Erudite traditions and rules.

I pick up my hand bag containing my notes on combat techniques and weapon making and head towards the school. I walk to the school building, passing the factionless and hear the train and whoops of the Dauntless as they jump off. It must feel nice to be free. I shake my head to clear my thoughts and continue walking. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My representative is a woman named Tori, from Dauntless. I come in unprepared, like everyone does, and fix the wires to the correct places on my skin. Before I drink the serum, I ask a question. "What If I feel that I don't belong in one fraction?" Tori's eyes wavered, "Then you stay quiet, and survive in the one that won't kill you." I drink the serum and sink into the test, a simulation... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hear Jeanine's voice, leader of Erudite, as a block of cheese and a knife are layed out on a glass table, "Choose one." Must I choose one? The knife is certainly Dauntless, the cheese? Might be Amity... "You must make a choice, Zarra." Jeanine repeated. This is just a simulation, I think, I choose neither. The table fades witht he choices to be replaced by a wild ravanous dog and a young child cowering in fear. I don't exactly fear the dog as I jump in front of the child, allowing the dog to take me instead of the child...

The scene changes again to one of the buses with the rusted metal used as a carrier for people. It is almost full to capacity, and an elderly man in rags is left to stand. Burnt, he reads a newspaper with the front page obscere. The man, most likely noticing me, turns to talk to me.

"Do you know, my problem, Zarra, you should know who did this to me, who do you know, you were there." He calmly stated. Alarmed, I look at the man in rags with the burns casacding and morphing his features. The man on the front page of the paper, I feel that I might know him. That something horrid will happen if I tell the man so, looking at the man, I ask, "Can you elaborate?"

"This man, he took something from me, If you help me, I will help you in return." I hesitate for a second- then, I say the truth.

"I do not know this man, I am sorry." After my denial of the man, I feel the scene shift again, until I see Tori undoing the electrods from my face and I sit up straight.

She walks out for a moment to grab the results. I start to feel my hands shake. What if I'm not cut out to be in a fraction. I might me homeless, fractionless. I can't let myself worry like this. So when Tori comes back in, a paer in hand and sits, I am emotionless, composed.

Mostly.

"Sorry to worry you."

"My results?" I ask, silently worried.

"They are inconclusive."

"So, you don't know where I belong?" "You are divergent, rare. You have a placements in Candor, Erudite and Dauntless , you're suitable for any 3 of the factions,"

"Yet, you will die if you choose Erudite. But if you choose Dauntless, come talk to me." Tori smiles. "Don't tell anyone or you will be killed. For your safety, please be careful."

So I left unsure of my descision of tomorrow, and at home, I thought of Cinna and Mother and my family, but mostly, I thought of myself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shock, or silence, fills the two spired Hub, the skies are grey and cloudy, and our footsteps echo on the floors of the main floor. I believe that it might be the tension that is heavy, like fog, that causes this pressure. I rufuse to cave into it now, for I must focus on what I must do now.

I climb the stairs of the Hub beside my classmates, others of my age. The elevators were crowded, so like Abnegation, we choose the stairs. Before I left home for what may be the last time, I made sure to collect all of my absolute belongings that I would need from Erudite: The small pocketbook in the inside pocket on my jacket with all my notes on combat techniques, weapon and instrument making, drawings and all I could gather of the vital facts of all the factions, along with the history of our society and the manifestos. I also brought a couple of drawing pens and pencils, and one other small notebook. I am wearing my blue scarf that my parents got for me on my birthday when Cinna was still in Erudite, my all purpose tennis shoes, my mid length wool coat, dark skinny jeans, and a dark grey t-shirt. I managed to find my silver ring with all the factions symbols ingraved in it, and I hid it in my coat pocket. My mother's necklace with the raven in flight I wore on a metal chain, but hid the raven underneath my shirt. I'm lucky that I've been able to hide these this long.

Before long, we reach the skydeck of the Hub, and soon I hug my mother, father, sister and brother, and take my place in the front. I pass the bowls, each representing a faction, water for Erudite, burning coals for Dauntless, a sheet of glass for Candor, grey stones for Abnegation, and a branch for Amity.

I shake my head and continue to the F's for my last name.

Once everyone sits, the representative for this years Choosing Ceremony, from Abnegation, wastes no time by stilling the masses of people, and speaks; "Today is a day that we all come forth to witness our factions, together, introduce a new group of our youth into our factions, to grow and prosper. Today, each of our 16 year olds, will make a choice that will affirm or transform you. Today, you each must use this knife," he holds out a plain knife, " and will cut your arm and use your blood to choose your faction."

He pauses, then speaks, motioning to each bowl. " Water represents Erudite, the wise. Glass represents Candor, upholders of absoulte truth. Earth is for Amity, upholders of the peace. These grey stones are for Abnegation, the selfless. Dauntless is represented by the burning coals, for the fearless, the brave."

" After you choose you will sit in the two front rows disinated with each faction. You will then partake in each initiation. Failure to complete will result in you becoming Factionless."

" May you all choose what is within you." He ends, and then with his grey robe swishing, the man looks at a paper with all our names and starts to read.

"Walter Asher." A slender boy with grey eyes and blonde hair walks up, his red and yellow clothes screaming choose Amity. He takes the knife, walks to the bowl with the earth, and claims his alligance. Amity.

More are like that, each are similar, except for a male in Candor clothes named Mark Cassian , with brown hair had his blood on grey stones instead of the glass. Traitor. Abnegation. Perhaps he's selfless in nature. A collective gasp, then silence. I roll up my sleeves and then observe first, another Candor, this time female, with mid length bright red hair and green eyes, narrowed with determination, had her blood sizzle on the coals of Dauntless. Her name was repeated, "Kiara Dawn, Dauntless."

Next, a man about 6 feet stood, his eyes the same green as Kiara, in Candor as well, had his blood spill on the coals of Dauntless. Again? I ask, Must be related. "Gregory Dawn, Dauntless." He walked over to sit next to his sister.

Before long it was my time to choose, a female named Piper Eres stayed in Abnegation, and then I was called, first of the Erudite in today's Choosing Ceremony. "Zarra Fang, come to the desk." I calmly walk towards the woman with the knife. Holding it in my left hand, I turn and stand in the center of the bowls. The Abnegation man asks for silence, and then says my name again:

"Of Erudite, Zarra Fang, now choose." I look at all the bowls, and stare between the water of Erudite and the coals of Dauntless. I examine each, then the knife. Surely this is what a moment is, I am wise, my results were inconclusive. I'm Divergent. I can be both water and steaming coals. I am Erudite, I am Dauntless, but really am I sure?

I turn towards the coals, and like slow motion, my blood trickles down my arm, the red trail sizzling on the coals of fire. Wise, Intelligent, Fearless, Dauntless. Brave. I must prove that aspect of myself.

A roar of whispers comes from Erudite, a look of shock is seen on the faces on my father and sister. My brother, Orion grins and gives a thumbs up, and my mother looks at me with actual love in her features. "Zarra Fang. Dauntless." He says. I let my sleeves fall and give the knife to an attendant. Walking, I look into the sea of black and find my brother's face, Cinna, our eyes lock and in understanding, I sit with the others who will face initiation. What will this lead to? I ask myself. I just watch the others, so that the 10 transfered initiates in Dauntless by the end of this Choice, 8 more are Dauntless born, sit as this whole hell concludes and we are dismissed and more or less jog down the stairs of the Hub, wondering where our choices lead. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

III: Expectations

We are lead to where, at least if I can remember, the trains that the Dauntless ride. I'm at the front of the pack, just behind a Dauntless-born initiate. One of the leaders, I persume as I can only identify his back, falls back to match my pace. He is about a couple inches taller than me, with wavy jet black hair that was spiked up. I recognized him as he turned his face towards me. "Cinna?" I asked, shocked. I knew that he transferred to Dauntless, but I didn't think that he would be in charge of us. His blue eyes shined in pride, "Glad you could make it, sis." "So we jump onto the train-" "Yep. We also have to jump off." We run in compatible silence as we take in our surroundings. I mean, I never thought that it would be so peaceful, being with my older brother. I guess, looking at how similar we appear, that this choice was the right one. "So, we can talk tomorrow, okay?" "Sure." I nod. Then he runs to catch up with the other full Dauntless members, his windkept hair a reminder of why I chose Dauntless. I am brave. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I hear the distinct roar of the train, I don't cower in fear like most of these initiates. The twins from Candor don't appear to fear the train, so when Cinna instructs us to jump on and cling until you get in, the three of us go first. It is a jolt of fire when the wind whips around you, and then suddenly, I pull myself into the platform of the train, stepping aside as another 4 initiates get over the shock and pull themselves in. I kneel back against a wall, looking at the others that also pulled themselves in. A boy with blonde cropped hair and grey eyes loks at me with a kind expression. He holds his hand out in greeting, and we shake hands. "My name is Robert Hunter, from Candor." He smiles softly and I smile back. "I'm Zarra Fang, from Erudite." We sit in a companionable silence, until, looking at the outside and how it merges into a blur with the speed we take to perhaps the Dauntless compound, Robert asks me a question, "I hope that we aren't going to get killed jumping off this train." "I think that we just have to time it right." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ When the train slows, we prepare to jump off the train to a roof. Robert and I get a running start, and jump together. Almost everyone gathers around a hole, which is so dark that we can't see if there's a bottom. Shit. Cinna, his hair still a mess, motions to the large hole. "Jump in, face your fears of the unknown." Silence. Then a wimper from one of the transfers. No one is going to step foward until someone does. I step foward as no one is going to and jump through the hole without a scream. I'mm not afraid of the unknown, so when the darkness only lasts a few moments, I am suddenly caught in a large net. Cheers arupt around me, and as soon as a lamp light helps adjust my vision, I see a plethora of Dauntless members. I let out a sigh of relief and then am hoisted out of the net onto solid rock. So they do live in tunnels underground. The rumors were true to some extent. "What is your name?" A very tall and muscular man with multiple piercings said. "Zarra Fang, from Erudite." So the man, in a loud, booming voice, echos into the tunnel, "Zarra Fang, from Erudite, first down to the Pit!" A roar of cheers is splitting the very reservations of me being resulting into pride. I grin looking forward to being Dauntless. Robert comes down next, then Kiara Dawn, then her brother, and then, one by one, we all reach the end, to the beginning of our new lives. brown hair had his blood on grey stones instead of the glass. Traitor. Abnegation. Perhaps he's selfless in nature. A collective gasp, then silence. I roll up my sleeves and then observe first, another Candor, this time female, with mid length bright red hair and green eyes, narrowed with determination, had her blood sizzle on the coals of Dauntless. Her name was repeated, "Kiara Dawn, Dauntless." Next, a man about 6 feet stood, his eyes the same green as Kiara, in Candor as well, had his blood spill on the coals of Dauntless. Again? I ask, Must be related. "Gregory Dawn, Dauntless." He walked over to sit next to his sister. Before long it was my time to choose, a female named Piper Eres stayed in Abnegation, and then I was called, first of the Erudite in today's Choosing Ceremony. "Zarra Fang, come to the desk." I calmly walk towards the woman with the knife. Holding it in my left hand, I turn and stand in the center of the bowls. The Abnegation man asks for silence, and then says my name again: "Of Erudite, Zarra Fang, now choose." I look at all the bowls, and stare between the water of Erudite and the coals of Dauntless. I examine each, then the knife. Surely this is what a moment is, I am wise, my results were inconclusive. I'm Divergent. I can be both water and steaming coals. I am Erudite, I am Dauntless, but really am I sure. I turn towards the coals, and like slow motion, my blood trickles down my arm, the red trail sizzling on the coals of fire. Wise, Intelligent, Fearless, Dauntless. Brave. I must prove that aspect of myself. A roar of whispers comes from Erudite, a look of shock is seen on the faces on my father and sister. My brother, Orion grins and gives a thumbs up, and my mother looks at me with actual love in her features. "Zarra Fang. Dauntless." He says. I let my sleeves fall and give the knife to an attendant. Walking, I look into the sea of black and find my brother's face, Cinna, our eyes lock and in understanding, I sit with the others who will face initiation. What will this lead to? I ask myself. I just watch the others, so that the 10 transfered initiates in Dauntless by the end of this Choice, 8 more are Dauntless born, sit as this whole hell concludes and we are dismissed and more or less jog down the stairs of the Hub, wondering where our choices lead. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ III: Expectations We are lead to where, at least if I can remember, the trains that the Dauntless ride. I'm at the front of the pack, just behind a Dauntless-born initiate. One of the leaders, I persume as I can only identify his back, falls back to match my pace. He is about a couple inches taller than me, with wavy jet black hair that was spiked up. I recognized him as he turned his face towards me. "Cinna?" I asked, shocked. I knew that he transferred to Dauntless, but I didn't think that he would be in charge of us. His blue eyes shined in pride, "Glad you could make it, sis." "So we jump onto the train-" "Yep. We also have to jump off." We run in compatible silence as we take in our surroundings. I mean, I never thought that it would be so peaceful, being with my older brother. I guess, looking at how similar we appear, that this choice was the right one. "So, we can talk tomorrow, okay?" "Sure." I nod. Then he runs to catch up with the other full Dauntless members, his windkept hair a reminder of why I chose Dauntless. I am brave. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When I hear the distinct roar of the train, I don't cower in fear like most of these initiates. The twins from Candor don't appear to fear the train, so when Cinna instructs us to jump on and cling until you get in, the three of us go first. It is a jolt of fire when the wind whips around you, and then suddenly, I pull myself into the platform of the train, stepping aside as another 4 initiates get over the shock and pull themselves in. I kneel back against a wall, looking at the others that also pulled themselves in. A boy with blonde cropped hair and grey eyes loks at me with a kind expression. He holds his hand out in greeting, and we shake hands. "My name is Robert Hunter, from Candor." He smiles softly and I smile back. "I'm Zarra Fang, from Erudite." We sit in a companionable silence, until, looking at the outside and how it merges into a blur with the speed we take to perhaps the Dauntless compound, Robert asks me a question, "I hope that we aren't going to get killed jumping off this train." "I think that we just have to time it right." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the train slows, we prepare to jump off the train to a roof. Robert and I get a running start, and jump together. Almost everyone gathers around a hole, which is so dark that we can't see if there's a bottom. Shit. Cinna, his hair still a mess, motions to the large hole. "Jump in, face your fears of the unknown." Silence. Then a wimper from one of the transfers. No one is going to step foward until someone does. I step foward as no one is going to and jump through the hole without a scream. I'mm not afraid of the unknown, so when the darkness only lasts a few moments, I am suddenly caught in a large net. Cheers arupt around me, and as soon as a lamp light helps adjust my vision, I see a plethora of Dauntless members. I let out a sigh of relief and then am hoisted out of the net onto solid rock. So they do live in tunnels underground. The rumors were true to some extent. "What is your name?" A very tall and muscular man with multiple piercings said. "Zarra Fang, from Erudite." So the man, in a loud, booming voice, echos into the tunnel, "Zarra Fang, from Erudite, first down to the Pit!" A roar of cheers is splitting the very reservations of me being resulting into pride. I grin looking forward to being Dauntless. Robert comes down next, then Kiara Dawn, then her brother, and then, one by one, we all reach the end, to the beginning of our new lives.


	2. Ravens and Knives

_ Clue: Why must I bow to the norms of society? Will be explained later._

Clashing Steel and Silver Moons

All rights to Veronica Roth. Also looking for a beta! Reviews are welcome :-)

Initiation Part I

* * *

I remember, once, that I was yelled at for demostating my fearlessness by climbing the sculpture by the Middle Level School. I didn't fall. I felt free with the wind against my face. Now, being underground, listening to the sounds of raging water underneath the Chasm, I feel more alive than ever. Except, in reality, we are more contained.

When we cling to the wall in unfamiliar territory as we decend the Pit to our dorm where we, together will stay, my brother laughs at us and says "Come on, just don't look, then you won't fall!"

I stop clinging to the wall after that. When we reach the dorm, and are given free reign to choose our beds, I pick a top bunk in the corner of the room and meet Kiara from Candor. We talk for a bit, and when she pairs up with me by taking the bottom bunk, it affirms something different.

Friends.

After we settle down, Cinna and another man walk in.

Cinna's companion is interesting, about 6 feet and a couple more inches taller than Cinna, with gelled back raven black hair and the most piercing emerald eyes. He seems...unnerving.

"All of you can walk around now. Curfew's at 10. No killing each other, no cheating."

"I'm Jason. I'll also be helping to instruct you all."

Cinna's companion speaks up. He hands out some black cards with a scanner code on it, and it can fit in my pocket.

"Those cards have points. You use points to spend and buy things here, so choose wisely." "See you at dawn."and they left.

I go and examine the drawer in which a change of black clothes is. I let my necklace show, the one with the ring and the five faction symbols, grab my card, and take off my sweatshirt and put on my coat. I then brush my hair back into a ponytail, and go to talk to Robert.

"We should explore."

He grins, "Sure."

We walked side by side around the compound, observing the Dauntless members and looking at things and stores. When we walked by the tattoo parlor, decorated with drawings and flames, I tugged on Robert's sleeve.

"Can we go in here?" I ask, curious. Maybe Tori is in there.

Robert looks at me with excitement in his eyes, "As long as we don't get full body tattoos, I guess so."

When we walk in, I see a man tattooing a tan woman's shoulder on a chair and a counter with the person I wanted to see. Tori.

Speaking of her, Tori looks up and says, "Welcome."

Robert and I end up at the counter, browsing tattoo designs. I remeber my notebook in my coat pocket and take it out. Robert eyes it and asks,

"You brought that from home?"

"It has drawings. I've been thinking of joining Dauntless anyways, so I designed some tattoos. Nothing major." "Cool." He points to the raven in flight, colored in black with electric blue feathers and silver spiraling the bird.

I turn the notebook towards Tori.

"Can you put that on my left shoulder?" I say.

Tori smiles in return, "Consider it accomplished, Zarra."

* * *

Robert and I get back just in time for curfew. My shoulder and neck burn from the tattoo, but I feel like I belong here now. Robert got the Dauntless symbol, a circle inscibed with flames, right over his heart. He said that it signified where his heart is. _Faction before blood_.

I hear the wimperings of someone homesick that night, but I managed to sleep once I hide my notebook underneath my bed. No nightmares happened, just heavy sleep and dreams of ravens in flight, escaping from cages.

* * *

I woke up 10 minutes before dawn, softly and quietly showering and changing into black sneakers, skinny jeans and a black tank top that showed my bandage of my tattoo. I pull my hair up, allowing the few tendrels to line my face. I slowly start to take off the bandage when I here a knock.

"Come in." I say.

Kiara walks in, her eyes surrounded with dark circles, but otherwise cheerful.

"Hey." I say.

"Hey. Need help with that?" Kiara points to the bandage.

"Sure. Thanks." Kiara uses he nimble fingers to rip off the bandage carefully, yet quickly.

It's amazing how much the redness cleared from the tattoo, no red except for the mark of the bandage on my skin. "Cool raven." She admires, a hint of envy in her voice, "I'll go change."

"Okay, see you at breakfast." I fasten my necklace with the faction symbol ring and walk to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria is lined with long, narrow tables, with the Dauntless born initiates sitting with us transfers. When I order, I find an assortment of muffins, not the Erudite favorites of eggs and ham because they promote a better mindset.

This isn't home- Erudite- anymore.

I pick out a cinnamon muffin and a couple of stripes of bacon and walk to the tables. Everyone ceases to speak when I walk past them to sit next to Kiara, Robert, Gregory and a Dauntless-Born initiate.

When I sit, the Dauntless born initiate laughs a dark, full brass sound that cause all of us to smile.

"Someone has a badass tattoo." She says, "You can already be one of us!"

Gregory grins and points a finger at the girl. "I'm Greg, Kiara's brother," "And this is Nari-"

"My full name is Narrenne Vrestrika. I'm too outlandish for my other Dauntless born peers, so I thought I would meet Cinna's little sister."

I examine her closer. Nari wears her chocolate brown hair short, ending sharply at her jawline. Her eyes are hazel, with the green specks standing out against her gold eyeliner. She carries herslef confidently, and is very... snarky and sarcastic. I like her enough, but have to be weary of competition.

"What!" Robert asks, incredulous, "The instuctor's your brother?"

Cinna and Jason sat at another table with the other Dauntless leaders: Max, Rikal, Lauren, and some other people. Apperently our conversation was loud enough that Cinna is now walking towards us. I catch Jason's eye though, and he's suppressing a laugh. My brother walks over, his hair calmer, yet spiked, and a smile on his face.

"Yep. Zarra's my sister alright. I won't treat her any differently from the rest of you though." He pats my head, and I scowl.

"Off, Cinna." He stops and looks at my tattoo closely.

"I see the similarity now," Robert mutters, his eyes traveling back and forth between us, "The same hair and eye color...and similar demeanors too."

"You just sounded like a know it all!" Kiara groaned and Nari's comment.

Cinna and I both give the same expression to Nari, "He's Candor, I'm the know it all here." I say, finishing my muffin.

A loud whistle ceased all conversation.

It's Jason, standing on one of the tables. "We start phase one of initiation today. Transfers, come with Cinna and I, everyone else, go with Lauren.

We clean up and follow Cinna and Jason to the training center. I feel a bit giddy, excited to have fun and not fail.

* * *

When we get there, there are targets and places for everyone. It looks like some shooting range. We each take a place at one of the spots. The target looks to be about 20 yards away, so it won't be hard to throw a knife. Guns, on the other hand, I don't know a lot about as only Dauntless is allowed to have weapons. My spot is in between Robert and an intimidating and annoying girl from my faction that used to tease me when I was younger. Her name, as I couldn't and still can't forget her long blonde hair and icy blue eyes and her horrid remarks, is Harriet. She snarls at me, and remarks that I was always a little wierd and will probably end up killing myself with a knife.

How much she _doesn't_ know. Threats don't do much to me anyways.

Jason and Cinna address that initiation is taken very seriously, and that this stage will focus on physical attributes, and that today, we are focusing on throwing knives. The demonstration starts with Cinna explaining the math and effects of your aim and Jason demostrates the throwing of it. They both stress to only aim at the targets, and then we are given eight knives.

When we start, I hold one of them in my palm, testing the weight and feel. After, I get in position, aim so that the knife will hit the target, and throw it. The knife hits the bullseye (or the center, as it hit that directly) with a loud thunk and sticks. It was just as I predicted, so I continue throwing each knife, hitting the bullseye range.

When the last one hits, everyone is staring at me. No one has hit their target except for me and Robert once. Robert looks at me with a serious expression on his face, and then Jason speaks up.

"Very well, all of you. Go collect the knives and we'll try something different."

Harriet glares at me throughout the session and I wonder if I'm in more danger of being discovered Divergent...


	3. Urie: acts of kindness

_Changing States, must it always be like this wind the fiercely drives my heart?_

_Thanks to all who have taken the time to view and read this. I plan to fix the formatting at some point. All rights go to Veronica Roth_.

* * *

Clashing Steel and Silver Moons

Initiation Part Ⅱ

After the training session with the knives, Kiara, Nari and I have some time to ourselves. We go to the clothing store and try on some things. When I pick out a pair of black fingerless leather gloves, with grooves on the palms, Nari comes and shows me a long, black, trench leather jacket with silver metal patches on the elbows, shoulders and sleeves. I grin, and check the inside seams and see loops to hide weapons, such as knives, and an inside pocket that I could hide my notebook.

"So, you want it?" She asks.

"It looks perfect. I'll take it."

The jacket and the gloves cost 2 points, so I have about another 50 left. I test out the gloves, and while walking around the compound, navigating the area and its expanse of people, we walk past a store, much like that tattoo parlor, it says: **_Weapon Making and Metal Engraving. _**

We stop at the entrance, Nari and Kiara telling me that they'll meet me at the tattoo place, and I walk into the quiet area. The store is eerily quiet, with a oven to metal the metal, and a blowtorch. The counter it made of the same rock of the Pit, and a man stands behind it reading a book. When I walked to the counter, the man, muscular and tan with a tattoo resembling the five faction symbols on his arms, with a mop of greying hair and strict set eyes the color of coal. He grins when he sees me.

"A visitor! Welcome to Weapon Making and Metal Engraving," we shake hands,

"I'm Urie, master blacksmith here."

"I'm Zarra," I say, "Can you perhaps engrave a design into this jacket?" I give the jacket to him.

He studies it for a while, staring and examining the metal patches. Urie looks at me.

"Sure. I can also do one on the back."

Urie points to the metal backing on the backside of the jacket, in silver. I take off my necklace, and give him it in his outstretched palm. Urie also looks at it, lightly tracing each faction symbol on the ring.

"All the factions in a circle, maybe? On the back, first Dauntless on top, then clockwise Abnegation, Candor, Amity and then Erudite."

"What about your tattoo?"

"Left shoulder patch?"

Urie starts to sketch with templates on the jacket, aligning the faction symbols in the right order. He takes a picture of my tattoo and prints it out into a template like the others. After that, he grabs me a chair to sit down and teaches me how to use a blowtorch. We talk for a while about weapons, and when he finishes, I give him a hug.

He embraces me right back, "You can come back anytime sweetie, and I'll teach you anything!"

"Can I come after training tomorrow?"

"Of course!"

* * *

I run to the tattoo parlor to see Kiara's right shoulder getting inked by the man named Bud. Nari has her left arm out, with Tori discussing something with her.

"Finally! Thought you wouldn't come out of there."

"I got my jacket engraved. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow."

"FINE!" Nari grumbles.

Kiara motions me over when I see what she's getting. Two unbalanced scales.

"Candor symbol?" I ask.

"Yeah. I think that I won't be able to forget where I come from, so I thought this symbolizes it. Truth." Interesting.

"Cool. Can I get an Erudite symbol on my other shoulder soon?" I ask Tori.

"Sure."

After the tattoos, we walk out and spend the rest of the day eating and enjoying life.

* * *

The morning passes by quickly. We are given punching bags to practice punches and kicks, and even though I'm not that strong, I'm fast and I know what I'm doing. I read through my notes on combat techniques with hand to hand combat last night because I thought that we would be doing it at some point. I was right, as usual. Cinna helps me with some quick succession punches, which I execute quickly. "Hook. Gaurd. Punch. Punch. Kick." His words repeat throughout my head for a while...

* * *

When I find Urie in the shop, I pick up the jacket and thank him. When I take my card out to spend my pointd, he tells me that its all on him. I'm touched by his sincerity.

"Why do this?" I ask.

"I knew your mother, and I see your brother sometimes."

_ Mom!?_

He hands the necklace back to me and helps me put on the jacket. Something presses against me. I go to feel with my hands.

"Knives. If one of those idiots tries to attack you. I've heard the legend of your knive throwing."

"Thank you." I say, dumbfounded by his act of kindness.

"Can you tell me about my mother?"

Urie's eyes crinkle, "How about sometime next week, okay?"

"Sure, but you promise, right?"

"Yes. She had that ring buried, you know, luckily you found it."

I leave confused about my mother and why she left here.

At dinner, I eat chicken and spicy pasta, craving for a soda that the Erudite are famous for. I see that Cinna has two at his table with the other leaders, including Jason, so I get up and steal it, open the cap with a fork, and drink it immediately. Cinna scowls up at me. Jason laughs heartily.

"Shut up Two!" Cinna glares at Jason.

"Zarra just did what you did to Dean in our initiation!"

"I wanted soda, Cinna. Don't complain, you still have one."

That made my day, besides the coat, which I folded and put away in my drawer, hiding my notebook in the inside pocket, keeping it safe.

* * *

"Today, you will be facing each other, and Cinna and I will test your skills over the next week." Jason instructs, pointing to the board with all our names on it.

On the board, Kiara is facing Robert, Greg is against Shane, one of the nicest teddy bears ever. I'm facing Price, whose also allied with Harriet and also has tried to make my life miserable, but Robert and Greg won't allow him to get near me. Price has severely dark eyebrows and white hair and plae skin and violet eyes. His hair falls in a sheet to his shoulders, abruptly cut at and 45 degree angle. He's vicious. Price has more strength than I, and is more likely to use cruel and horrid tatics.

"Kiara and Robert, come first."

When we observed the fight, they were pretty much evenly matched. Kiara won by a clever placed kick and punch combo. As the fighted progressed, Greg won against Shane, as Shane forfieghted.

Harriet won her fight, and when it was my turn, I was suddenly in a fight for my survival to not die. Price brutally punched my ribs, I in return kick him in his weak spot, and then I'm kicking and trading punches with him, landing a punch that will lead into bruises on his jaw. I dodge a couple of hits from him, and then he yells in frusteration as I'm thrown to the ground, getting multiple hits... and then his hands find my throat, and I'm struggling to breathe, seeing black and blue spots.

One... Two... Three... I count the seconds.

I maneuver my head and bite hard into his arm, and he screams in pain. I waste no time getting free of him and placing my hand hard into the crook of his neck, causing his eyes to roll back. Price stand quickly, and I gaurd. He starts punching me hard, loosening my gaurd, and I lose my balence because of the effects of the throat grab, and Price lands a hit to my head.

I stagger, yet still land a kick to his chest, causing him to fall the opposite direction.

"STOP! STOP!" Jason's voice booms across the area.

I'm seeing black spots still, and my body hurts all over and my throat burns when I breathe.

"Price. That choke hold was illegal. Sit. Now." Cinna announces each word with anger.

I really don't know who is even more deadly when angered, but I think it might be Jason. Jason pulls Price by his shirt and angrily whispers something into his ear, and drops him hard on the floor.

I'm still on the mat, my hands shaking as I struggle to breathe. Robert puts a hand on my shoulder, and Jason kneels to talk to me. His hands are long, as he lifts my chin up to look at my face, my throat...

"I'll take you to the infirmary, okay?" His green eyes are gentle. I nod as carefully as I can.

Jason carries me to the infirmary, and I fall asleep with exhaustion on the way there.

* * *

I wake up to the sound of voices, and feeling numb, but at least my head is clear. I sit on a cot with white sheets, and am in a brightly lit room with white walls. My right arm is stuck with an IV bag, and I'm propped up on pillows.

I see a familiar figure, greying hair and his arms are covered in the faction symbols.

"Urie?" I say, my voice comes out like a croak. Great.

Urie turns and stares at me with concern, "How are you doing?" he asks.

"I... need to heal... more." I reply.

"That kid, Price, they're punishing him."

"With what?" I'm curious.

"A talk by Jason." He grins.

"What does he do?"

"There's a reason why they call him Two. Two fears only, and quite strict when angry."

"He seemed to be gentle enough."

"Jason transferred from Candor, and he tied 1st with Cinna in initiation. He's rare to show any emotion, and when angered, it takes an extreme act of foolishness or just plain cruelty to see him do something like this. When I heard that he'd carried you in here, and explained what happened, I was shocked that you were that injured, and I ran here as fast as I could."

"So everyone knows?"

"Most of us like to keep track of your health. Most of us want to prevent a tragedy that happens every year."

"Someone always ends up being fished out of the chasm." Deductions help sometimes. But now I'm fearful because some of those people might have found out to be Divergent.

Urie nods, "Yep. The year of your brothers initiation, Jason was trying to help a girl named Selene. He tried to convince her to not jump off, I mean, he had feelings for her, and she jumped off right in front of him. Jason was gonna go after her, planning to jump in, but luckily Cinna restrained him."

No shit. Some don't even survive here.

"Cinna probably would tell you more, but you should ask Jason himself." Urie gave me a sheepish smile, I half smiled back.

"I'll leave you to recover." Urie leaves.

In the silence of the room, I start to wonder why the heck would Jason do this, and focused on what to do next about initiation.


	4. Redemption and Payback

_AN: Longer chapter :-) Initiation Phase One- the physical part, ends in this chapter. We also start to see more plot development in this, and I put the capture the flag scene in here as well. Reviews are great! All rights to Veronica Roth, etc. No harm intended_.

Clashing Steel and Silver Moons

Initiation Part III

* * *

Over two days I recover, so when I leave the infirmary, my injuries are only a little bit sore, and the great thing is that Robert, Kiara, Greg and Nari all visited, and they brought me up to speed.

"They've given us lectures on the manifesto instead of the fights we're supposed to be doing." Kiara and I walk back to the dorm together, to change before breakfast. Dauntless doesn't exactly follow the manifesto, in my opinion.

"So...how's everyone acting?" I ask.

"Jason seems serious and quiet and he asked Robert about your condition yesterday. Cinna's been really pissed off, but in a controlled way towards Harriet and Price."

Its kind of weird that Cinna is keeping his distance, but I guess that he's trying not to seem that he favors me. Cinna was... is always wary of others.

"How are Harriet and Price doing?" I ask.

Kiara looks at me, troubled. Her flaming red hair is pulled up in a ponytail, and her pale green eyes look pretty in the little light we have.

"Robert and I have been giving them shit for doing that to you. I gave that stupid Harriet a black eye yesterday..." Kiara trails off while we change.

I grab my jacket with the knives and the faction symbols and take out the notebook for I hide it underneath my mattress after a quick glance at it. I put on my coat over a black tank and dark jeans with my gloves and black sneakers.

When we finish, we walk into breakfast and sit down by Nari, Robert and Greg. They stare at my jacket. I eat my muffin quickly and chew on some bacon while Nari traces the faction symbols.

"Woah." She murmurs. Robert just looks at me with relief on his face. He seems a bit disheveled, but he looks like he had a good night's sleep.

"Did Urie do that?" Nari asks.

"Who's Urie?" Greg wonders.

"He's the weapons maker. Urie also engraves stuff. You should come with me sometime. Urie may look intimidating, but he's not that bad if you're not on his bad side."

"Cool. How about after phase one?"

"Sure. Let's make them pay first."

We all smile. Harriet and Price need to leave. Now.

We take them on by practicing throughout the next couple of days, and we all fare well. Robert can shoot a gun really well, and when Jason puts Price at gunpoint to throw a knife at Harriet, he misses the target, and Cinna degrades him on his cruelty.

At some point, I manage to convince Cinna to let me use the moving target practice, and use throwing knives and also a pistol. It's weird how natural a weapon capable of death feels in my hand. Jason teaches me to shoot one handed, and when he gives me his gun and tells me to use both, I grin and excel at that as well.

Kiara and I sneak at night to work on combat techniques, because we both lack the muscular strength to hit hard. Kiara is shorter than me, so it's easier for her to be underestimated.

I showed Robert, Greg, and Kiara the book late one night in secret. They each took turns looking at the book, and Greg browses the drawings I've done. He settles on one with a knife surrounded by vines of flowers. _Irises_.

* * *

_ One morning when the irises were in full bloom on the ledge of the window, and it was peaceful. I was working at the oak table, supposedly studying. I was finishing that knife drawing in my notebook, when my mother looked over my shoulder, and I didn't notice her eyes scan the page. The knife was finished, I was shading it with some charcoal pencils, silently cursing the quietness of my family. _

_"Nice." Mom says. I look up._

_"What should I add?"_

_"How about the irises?" She shows me how to sketch it around the knife, her pale fingers creating the petals of the irises with careful, dainty strokes. After, she compares the blue of the irises to her blue sweater, Mom's smiling face and green eyes remind me that that moment was one of our only moments of non-Erudite interaction._

* * *

Shaking myself out of the memory, I say, "You like it, Greg?"

He studies it, "The irises are wonderful. I once saw some Amity growing some."

"My mom's name is Iris." I say, remembering her face as she smiled and helped me with my drawing skills, supported instead of yelled at. I betrayed her, but she betrayed these people. Urie said that he would talk to me about her. I have to go now.

Robert hands the book back to me.

"I'll be at Urie's" I say, hurriedly running to his shop.

* * *

We sit next to each other on the stools behind the counter, using a very sharp graver to engrave similar swirls and circles to my raven on my shoulder on each of the throwing knives that came with my jacket. Urie and I are silent for a while, until he takes a circular locket out from underneath his desk, placing it carefully on the solid rock face of the counter. Our eyes meet, blue on the dark grey of coal.

"I first met your mother when we argued on the tall sculpture by the Upper-Level School. We were both about 8, and thought that we could make it to the top faster," Urie smiles in the memory.

"Neither of us made it to the top, but we realized that together we could conquer anything. Iris and I became good friends. I was always interested with the process involving engraving. This locket is like the ring you have. All five factions, Dauntless, Abnegation, Amity, Candor and Erudite. Your mother and I thought that all the factions should coexist peacefully, and that the Divergent-" He whispers low in my ear, "-shouldn't be hunted down."

"I'm-" I'm speechless. The ring represents rebellion, what things should be. Not what Max is doing. The original manifesto.

"Iris and I are, you know, and I suspected that you were to. Your brother- others as well."

"The next stage you will have to hid your control and ability of the simulations- fear landscapes. They kill if they find out."

"I figured that I might get killed." Urie puts the locket back where it was, and holds his arms out for me to see, in detail.

On the right are Dauntless, Abnegation. The left has Candor, Amity and Erudite symbols. The right represents his results, the left are the choices left out. Urie nods, his age showing a bit when he looks wistfully out into space, the sky perhaps.

He whispers, "Erudite, Dauntless and Candor were hers." _Those were also_ _mine. _My mind silently remarks.

"I loved your mother, Zarra. I feel so strongly for you, here, for you remind me so much of her."

"You're more of a father to me than my own, now. For that I thank you." My father and I didn't have much of the relationship, for he thought that I was an outcast.

We continue talking in relative compatibility, remembering my mother and cherishing her effect on us today.

* * *

"Zarra, come on!" Nari hushes, pulling me along with her and a bunch of Dauntless members. We jump onto a train with the others, and I'm confused as to where we're going.

It turns out to be the Hancock building, lumbering in its stature. The normally busy Michigan Avenue is desolate around the Hancock, and we are suddenly on the roof.

A zip line of some sorts is suspended by the harness that is suppose to equip us and keep us all from falling to our deaths. It's insane, yet the view is magnificent. Nari and I watch some of the others go and a large, kind man named Bryson, a Dauntless born initiate, sees me and calls my name:

"Hey Zarra!" He calls.

"Sup."

"We should make you go next." Nari and Bryson help me into the harness. I trust that I won't die now, that this isn't a mistake.

Suddenly, I'm flying, my arms outstretched like wings. It's exhilarating, because when I get to the other side, everyone cheers.

I feel at home, at last. Celebrated as one of them, I am truly brave.

* * *

Harriet is on the mat, and I am beating the total life out of her. I've totally himulated her, yet she caused me great pain, great danger.

She groans in pain, I kick her a couple more times, then stop, as Jason puts a hand on my shoulder. It's a calming effect, yet his touch feels like my nerves are on fire.

A controlled fire.

"You've done enough damage." His voice is kind, yet stern. I walk off the mat and dismiss myself out the door and make it to the dorm, my emotions in control.

But they really aren't.

I stagger into the bathroom, managing to turn on the coldest water setting on the shower, scrubbing under my nails to get rid of every trace of _her_. I let the tears fall in this isolation for a bit.

After I change and regain my composure, I put on a plain black tank top and my gloves, fastening my necklace with the ring. I let my hair down, allowing the ink black waves to fall against my mid back. I part it to the side and walk towards the hair place.

* * *

No one's looking for me yet, so when I'm placed in a chair and see my reflection, I stare at the electric blue dyed ends of sleek jet ink black waves, and the tiny crystal hoops attached to the ends of a section. The blue matches her eyes, and the raven tattoo fits to create a mystifying, somewhat normal, beautiful woman.

Me. I smile to myself and thank the hairdresser, paying for the new hairstyle, and walk to Tori's tattoo parlor.

When I meet Tori, she looks up and flashes the biggest smile.

"Zarra. What makes you come here, sweetheart?"

I walk toward the poster with the designs, and I point to the opened eye surrounded by a circle made of water.

"To remind me that nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it. That intelligence is a gift, not a right. It must not be wielded not as a weapon but as a tool for the betterment of others."

Tori grins, directing me to a seat. I sit cracking my fingers first, and she dutifully applys antiseptic to my right shoulder, then, taking a clean needle and her ink supplies, Tori starts on creating my second tattoo: The Erudite symbol.

Later, I pay Tori the amount, ,letting out a light swear because movement allows the apparent new throbbing pain on my shoulder, and walk to the cafeteria for lunch, barely hearing the softest clinking of my crystal loops against each other.

* * *

I pick out a spicy chicken pasta dish and a ice cold herbal green tea; paying and walking towards the tables. I sit next to Robert, Bryson, Nari, Greg and Kiara on one side, and across from Harriet (who has a bruise on her jaw) and Price. Price glares at me when I sit down.

"Finally here, Fang?" Harriet sneers, "Got your anger out cuz you're weak?!" She's actually spitting now.

I am not weak. I recoil at her remarks, because they mention all of those times she has called me out on not being more Erudite.

I instantly take one of my knives out from my pocket with my left hand, and stab it into the table, purposely missing her spread out palm, hitting the table face between her spread out fingers.

Everyone's eyes go to the 13 inch long silver throwing knife: the engraved swirl design on the face, the black handle engraved with a circle of water with and eye in the center, a circle of fire circumscribing a fire, a sliver circle surrounding the scales of justice, a couple of hands surrounded by a circle of stones, and a blossoming tree in the center of a circle of branches and leaves.

I look hard into Harriet's eyes, pulling the knife out of the table with my left hand, back into its place in my pocket of my jeans. I am controllably concealing my anger when I start to speak.

"I. Am. Strong. I believe that justice is more important than peace. I believe in freedom from fear, in _denying_ fear the power to influence our decisions. I believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to _stand_ up for another. I believe in acknowledging fear and the extent to which it rules us. I believe in facing that fear no matter what the cost to our comfort, our happiness, or even our sanity. I believe in shouting for those who can only whisper, in defending those who cannot defend themselves. I believe, not just in bold words but in bold deeds to match them. I believe that pain and death are better than cowardice and inaction because we believe in action."

I take a breath in, ripping off the bandage on my right shoulder in one quick, agonized motion, revealing the Erudite symbol tattoo. I place both my hands on the table, continuing my statement against her, against what anyone believes here.

"Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know - and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. Ignorance leads to weakness, and I am not ignorant. I believe in not purposely using hatred or dislike of a person to try and murder that person who has done their best to survive in this damn society!"

"That." I point to Price, then Harriet, "is what you both have done!"

"You both also might fear me, rather than underestimate me. If you fear my intelligence, Harriet, you might not remember that intelligence is a gift, not a right. It must not be wielded _not_ as a weapon but as a tool for the betterment of others.

Courage also defines bravery, and Dauntless acts. So, if you fear me, let me remind you that courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears.

I'm not weak, Harriet. I might be flawed, but I don't let my fears influence my actions. I let my heart and mind dictate what I do."

I flash my teeth in a bright smile.

"Just add some experience and intelligent so you can succeed."

"With a sprinkle of luck to increase the flavor of life." Nari chimes in, her charm hitting a chord in breaking the tension and silence.

Harriet and Price move to another table, and the room slowly turns to normal. Robert helps me put on a new bandage, as my right shoulder is on fire with most movements, and Bryson gives me a thumbs up and compliments me on my aim with the knife and speech.

Soon, conversations start again, and I finish lunch talking with my friends. At some point, I look over to the instructors table, to see Cinna looking at me with the same expression Mom gave me at the Choosing Ceremony, Max with a smug smile, and Jason staring right at me.

When our eyes meet, Jason gives me a serious expression, and starts mouthing something.

_Meet me after the capture the flag game is over._

_Where?_

_Urie's shop._

I nod, then turn back to Kiara's conversation of the rankings for the 1st phase, thinking of exactly what Jason wants to talk to me about.

* * *

We all gather in the training room that we've done most of our physical training. Cinna talks about how the bottom two transfers will be Factionless, and everyone else will be advancing to the 2nd phase, which is weighted more than the physical round.

Robert runs a hand through his short blonde hair in nervousness, Kiara clenches and uncleches her fists when they turn white repeatedly, Greg stare intently on a small light fixture hanging from the ceiling. I crack each of my fingers and fiddle with my necklace.

Jason turns the chalkboard to the other side, displaying the rankings to us:

1) Price Istland

2) Zarra Fang

3) Robert Hunter

4) Harriet Ambers

5) Kiara Dawn

6) Greg Dawn

7) Mirana Rune

8) Veronica Raynor

9) Shane Cannon

10) Carter Yarsi

We all crowd the board, and I'm satisfied with my position, for now. Robert high fives me, and I give Kiara and Greg each a hug.

Cinna smiles and gives a thumbs up, while Carter and Veronica, last on the list, disappear to the Factionless area, not to be seen again.

"Well done, all of you." Cinna speaks to all of us, and we are silent.

"Next is the emotional stage, where you all will be ranked with the Dauntless-born initiates as a progress report. This is individual instruction, where either Jason or myself will test each of you and rank you based on your progress." Cinna looks at Jason.

"Tonight, we have a little field trip that we do each year, so be ready to go out after dinner." Jason speaks.

"You're dismissed. Dinner's at six."

Robert, Kiara, Greg and I leave the room, navigating through the Pit, relieved in our good fortune, yet anxious in our future.

* * *

After dinner, Jason and Cinna tell us to change at the dorm for colder weather, so I change into black combat boots, a plain black t-shirt, my fingerless gloves and my metal patched jacket.

I plan to take in the jacket to Urie's to see if he can salvage the engravings on the metal as someone, probably Harriet or Price, scratched off the faction symbols and the raven. My knives are still in their slots, so I take the one that I had in my pocket earlier and place it in one of the loops on the left column. I change my mind on the jacket, replacing it with a black hooded sweater similar to Cinna's that he wore after the Choosing Ceremony.

I keep my necklace on though, and finger with the ring while I sit on Kiara's bed and watch what everyone else is doing.

Robert wears black sneakers with black jeans and a long sleeved black shirt with a waist length cotton blend military style jacket. His bunkmate, Greg of coarse, also wears black sneakers and jeans, yet a slight color difference with his coal grey t-shirt is noticeable with his unzipped pure black leather jacket. His eyes, the same as his sister's stand out against the black. Greg's auburn hair is slicked back from his face in long spikes. I look to Kiara emerging from the bathroom, her bright red hair worn in a fishtail style down her shoulder. She wears black boots, black skinny jeans, and a black leather coat with a t-shirt underneath.

Kiara grins when we are called to follow Cinna and Jason. Jogging with Robert, Greg and Kiara, we stop by the tracks to see a dark pile with long barreled guns and triggers. The box reads PAINTBALLS. Each of us takes a gun, which I strap across my chest and a box of paintball which I put in my pocket.

After that we jump onto the train with ease, meeting with Narrenne and Bryson on the train car with us.

"Listen up! We divide into teams for capture the flag. Jason and I will be your team captains, so two teams. One team will get off and find a place, then the second." Cinna continues:

"Teams are divided into a mix of Transfers and Dauntless born. You should take this seriously, as it's a Dauntless tradition."

Jason's eyes are bright in the moonlight.

"Transfers first. Cinna, you can have first pick."

My brother grins, his blue eyes calculating strategy, of course.

Then, "Harriet" She moves over to his side.

Jason looks right at me, "Zarra." I go to his side.

When everyone is picked, Price, Harriet, Mirana and Veronica are on Cinna's team. Jason's team consists of Robert, Kiara, Greg and myself. Adding the Dauntless members, Nari joins our team, and Bryson is with Cinna. Our team gets off first, and starts heading east towards the marsh.

The area we walk to is dark with no lights, on bridges across the river. It looks like the people who left here did this with choice, for the homes look clean. A faded sign with the letters NAVY PIER rusts, barely held up, facing the foe of gravity. Once we go past that, however, the scenery changes to broken concrete and shards of broken glass.

The moon is a full, silver disk illuminating the area we walk in, so this is less of a nightmare and more of a mutated reality.

A tall ferris wheel dominates our view, its red cars full of rust. but there's a latter that leads up to the top.

We hide the flag by the carousel, where some of the horses have broken tails. We are given ten minutes to formulate a strategy, so when chaos arises, I walk to the ferris wheel, and strap the gun across my back, and climb the ladder.

It's very unsafe, this ladder is rusted and the hinges barely there. I rest at the platform about halfway up, looking for where Cinna might keep his flag. I can't see enough as a building blocks my view.

I continue to climb on now scaffolding and a ladder. The wind almost makes me loose my balance, but I manage to reach another platform, and see a cluster of people surrounding a park, an open space.

Not hidden enough. Figures.

I carefully climb back down, going back towards the group, who assemble at the foot of the ferris wheel.

"Where are they?" Nari asks.

"A park. Northeast of here."

"Good strategy, Zarra." Jason says, his voice warm.

"Thanks." I grin. We find them and I grab the flag, and am cheered by my team, being bragged to even in the train.

I am Dauntless. I am fearless.

I am home.

* * *

I wait until everyone is asleep and slip out, silently taking my notebook and metal patched jacket with me, and head to Urie's.


	5. Confiding in our Pasts

_Consider your origins: you were not made to live as brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge.  
Dante Alighier_

AN: All rights to Veronica Roth, except for Zarra, etc. This chapter features jason's talk with her. Shorter than last chapter as i have a very long and busy week coming up.

Playlist for this chapter- Vivaldi Summer from the four seasons. We played this in my orchestra. :-)

Possible slight trigger warning to some assult which caused Jason's friend's death. Just explaned, no detail.

If you want to skip the fear landscape their is only one which represents Betrayal. Next chapter though.

Also Im going to need some more feedback on this story as reviews are always helpful for me. Thanks- VoyageHome4ever

hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Trekkie'sDeductions Presents:

Clashing Steel and Silver Moons

Initiation Part IV

Jason waits outside of Urie's, his features brightened by the moonlight that I didn't think would reach here. His auburn, almost raven black hair is windswept back from his face, so he looks almost feral. Jason actually is refined, and by the attentiveness of his emerald colored eyes, I guess that he's very sensible.

Then again, he's my instructor. Then again, Erudite is more for observation and Candor is more for actually saying outright what they see. I make my presence known by a clearingof my throat, and his emerald eyes turn their attention towards mine.

"Hey Zarra." He motions to Urie's shop enterance.

"In here?" I'm beside him now, shoulder to shoulder.

"Yep. We can trust him."

We walk in, where no one is inside. It's erie to be in here at this time of night. Silent. With no clashing steel on steel, just the silver moonlight. We sit behind the counter.

Jason starts to talk.

"I know that you might wonder why I've asked you here, alone."

_No Shit I've wondered._

"So after you took that knife out, I considered that you're trying to protect yourself. Cinna can't show favoritism as he's already on watch by Max. Not like he would, but as your brother, he cares. As for I, I care."

"Why do you care? You think I'm weak too? I thought I showed my underestimation when I purposely missed stabbing her hand." I scowl. I'm frusterated with this idiot too.

"I don't want anyone to die again. Every year someone is murdered or commits suicide by throwing themselves into the Chasm. Just because they're different."

"You mean Divergent." I keep my voice low. He nods.

"Mostly. Claire wasn't."

"The one that you tried to convice not to jump and they you almost went after her to your death?" I remeber Urie's story about how Cinna helped him. How Jason rarely shows emotion at all. Jason's eyes tear up, reeling from the memory.

"They convinced her so they could damage me. Claire was alot like you. Same ranking, same passion and determination. She was more outright than you, probably because we were both from Candor. We were friends for a long time. We transfered together, I taught her how to defend herself. It was no use in the end though."

Jason's tears start to fall, he's still angry. He chokes out the rest of the story.

"They...they figured out because of my ranking in the second phase of initiation that I was different. I had results for Candor and Dauntless. I completed my fears in two minutes, the lowest time ever to complete it. Max noticed, but Cinna played the system as well as I, manipulating the simulation. He had results for Erudite and Dauntless, and he decided that to convince you to come here and avoid being killed, that he would transfer to Dauntless.

Some of the initiates, some like Price and Harriet, assaulted Claire, causing her to jump into the Chasm waters in front of me. Cinna restrained me so that I wouldn't sacrifice myself as well. I'm lucky to have your brother to save me back then-"

"So Price is the one to worry about?" I ask.

"I'm just saying to be careful, and that I'll make sure to look in after you, along with Urie. There's some others like us or sympathetic with us that are trying to restore what Dauntless used to be like, not with Max. Elsa I can introduce to you after initiation, same with Liara and Garrus and Sherlock."

He lets out a full laugh, "Sherlock's a real piece of work though, I don't know how John keeps him in line."

He looks at me with one of those full on stares, and says, carefully and sincerely,

"Zarra, I like you alot. You have more belief in this life than I do. Because really, knowledge which is divorced from justice, may be called cunning rather than wisdom. I'm more Candor than ever, and mostly I'm angry and stubborn and..."

"You're still grieving and scarred. That's to be expected." I say, embracing him, and he presses his face to the crook of my neck.

"I fear of betrayal. So I understand where you're coming from.

Thanks, Jason." He smiles back, in understanding.

I write a note to Urie asking if he could possibly salvage what's left with the jacket.

I stand up, and he watches my movements as I walk out, turning back, meeting his emerald eyes that gleam from the silver moon. My eyes must stand out too, if the moonlight is like this.

"See you after visiting day." Jason says quietly.

I quickly trek back into the dorm, using the moonlight as my guide, wondering what I should do with this newfound information, and about Jason and my unresolved feelings and newfound friendship...


	6. Reunited

AN: _All rights to Veronica Roth. Note that this chapter is also short but now school is a hell and other things along it, so it will be awhile. Will update with a longer chapter soon and will have a prequel about Zarra's mother, Iris and Urie in Dauntless. Now on to the story!_

* * *

_Clashing Steel and Silver Moons_

_Visiting Day:_

Everyone is drunk. It's noisy, this is hell contained. Chaos. Barely reasonable to be here and bewildered right now.

It's _lovely_.

Visiting Day is insane.

Max addressed us today on not getting too comfortable with our families as they take faction before blood very seriously. Like any faction wouldn't. We say it every day in school. A pledge. It's hard to even listen to Max today even with my mistrust of him. I don't trust Max even more so after last night's conversation with Jason.

I try to conceal my emotions and change into a black tank top and black skinny jeans, wearing my faction ring necklace. My raven tattoo is exposed while my bandage is covering my Erudite tattoo. Kiara helps me take off the bandage, and with a deft hand, applies silver eyeliner to accent my sapphire eyes. I let my hair down, and when Robert, Greg, Kiara and I walk to meet our families in the chaos after breakfast, I hear the clinks of the crystal rings attached to the eyes on my electric blue ends of my jet black hair, calming me.

I walk in and find my brother, Orion, looking in wonder at this chaos. His brown hair is windblown, like Cinna's, and his green eyes practically look like they're soaking up everything. I feel horrified leaving him all of a sudden. I gulp, and then make way towards Orion and my mother, talking to of all people, my oldest brother Cinna.

"Mom?" I ask. She turns towards me, her hair worn in a percise braid to show off her tattoo on her neck to collarbone.

"Zarra!" She embraces me, tightly. Orion does so after. I try to not tear up as Cinna hugs Mom, and then embraces my brother in a bear hug.

"She's doing well." Cinna pats my head. I get him to stop.

"Those are wicked tattoos." Orion says in wonder. He traces the raven in flight, and then mom touches my Erudite symbol tattoo.

Mom gives off a sheepish grin and then rolls off her sleeves to show her arms. They're covered with irises of her namesake and knives like the iris tattoo I showed Greg.

She was once Dauntless. Orion looks between Cinna, Mom and myself in wonder and admiration.

_He could be at home in Dauntless. Once it's safe._ My thoughts get ahead of me, but I can't help it.

Some habits are hard to get rid of.

I continue talking to my family, and when they leave, Cinna and I go our separate ways. Urie talked to my mom for a bit before she left.

When I try to walk out, I see a striking platinum haired woman with blue grey eyes like a brewing storm. Her hair is in a messy, yet delicate braid, and her skin is quite pale. We're about the same height.

What must be her sister was slightly shorter, with two braids of strawberry blonde hair and more animated than her more...composed sister. they have the same structures to Narrenne out of all people. Nari must be the youngest of the three.

She stands next to a brooding, yet lanky man about six feet with a mop of curly black hair and a cigarette in his mouth. What Jason told her about this man?

_Sherlock._ I recall from last night's discussion.

Suddenly a huge hand claps on my shoulder, causing me to flinch. The three people stare at us.

"Took you long enough to introduce yourself, Urie." The man, Sherlock, says almost bored.

"Sorry to scare you, Fang. I got your jacket and note and thought you could have some introductions here." Urie lead me forward.

The woman with the platinum braid held out her hand. We shook hands.

"Nari's told me about you. I'm her oldest sister, Elsa." Elsa gives me a warm smile. It's genuine, that gesture. I feel at ease with her.

"I'm Zarra Fang. Nice to meet you." I say.

Her sister laughs lightly, then has a full out cheeky smile for me,

"I'm Anna, the middle sister. I lead the fashion and tailoring shop, where you bought that coat."

Sherlock holds a hand up in greeting, then throws out his cigarette:

"Name's Sherlock Holmes. I operate the Shipyard Bar."

"She's a lot more like Iris than Cinna." Elsa states. They knew mom, I think.

"We'll get you a new coat." Anna says.

"I'll engrave it and on top of that, I'll teach you how to customize a couple of pistols." Urie offers.

"Thanks, for everything." I say.

Elsa, Anna, Sherlock, Urie and I talk for a while and then I leave for the dormitory and sleep quite well.

That wouldn't last, this peace. We had to deal with our fears.

Everything then turned to facing them, defeating them. Mostly, however, it was calming and adapting.

Surviving.

Believing that we are undaunted.


	7. One Fear

_AN: Note: Updates will come in time. I reward all of your patience and views of this story with this chapter! Herein is the fear landscape, among other things, and about one fourth of phase two is in this chapter :-)_

Clashing Steel and Silver Moons

Initiation II: Face your Fears

The only thing that I can predict about this second phase of initiation is that it invovles sitting in a dark hallway, and being patient.

_Very_ patient.

Narrenne is across from me, fiddling with her bracelet from her sister, she told me. Bryson sits to her left. They train with us together now, not seperate like before. Jason and Cinna told us that before they disappeared. My brother gets to oversee them on a screen and rank us, Jason has the job of admisistering whatever it is. They disappeared behind the door a while ago.  
Robert sits to my left, Kiara is next to him, and Greg sits next to me on my right.  
"Who's ranked first among you?" says Bryson, scuffing the floor with his shoe.

Silence, then Price clears his throat, "Me."

"I could beat you," Nari casually replies, letting a small smirk lighten up her features, "I'm third, but you should know that any of us would take you on, pansycake."

Price scowls, his stark white hair unnatural in the blue light, "I would retract that statement, Third. Who's first?"

"I am." Bryson says, meeting Price head on, intimidating most of us. I look at all the Dauntless born initiates and realize something:

"They prepare for this their whole lives." I say, remembering that from faction history, and also common sense. Why wouldn't they not want to make it in, being a part of their born faction if they choose to stay.

None of us transfers have that expirience, and no one can prepare for the second phase. At least that's what the rumor is around us. Jason steps out of the door, into the hallway, and calls Price's name. Price stands, looks over his shoulder to sneer at me, and walks with Jason to whatever it is. Fifteen minutes pass, and Jason calls us in, one at a time, until it's just Nari and Robert with me. I force myself to be still, and relax before the door opens again.

Jason calls me in, and I steel myself for the worst. When I walk into the blue lit room, I instinctively recoil because of the metal chair and headrest being an exact copy of the Aptitude Test one. He gently guides me to the chiar, and I sit.

I look up at him. Jason holds a syringe with a vial of orange liquid with a huge needle.

"It's a simulation?" I ask.

"Yep. Ever heard the saying face your fears? We take that literally. You are given an image that the computer computes depending on what you fear. You have to calm down enough, and then you are given the next one."

"How many do people get?"

"On average 15 to 10 fears." Jason said, he taps the vial, and attached little head wires to his temples.

He looks at me, and presses the needle into my neck. I don't register the pain or the sensations of the serum. Our eyes meet as my head meets the headrest.

"I'll be monitoring your progress right here."

"Be brave, Zarra." Everything fades to black.

* * *

I see them. All my friends, family, speaking in whispers:

I'm seperated by a glass wall. They laugh at me, conversations that I cannot hear.

Harriet, her eyes gleaming says the one word.

Divergent. _"Divergent." Divergent. Divergent... _it spreads like wildfire, a flame of fear and pain, blinding pain fills me. I'm afraid.

They start to break the glass, and I calm myself, silently willing myself.

_Not real. Just a simulation._

I put my hands against the glass as it breaks, letting the shards tear what is left of me apart.

* * *

I jolt awake, sitting straight up in the headrest with Jason pulling the wires from his head and calmly, surely puts both his hands on my arms.

"How...long was that?" I gasp, trying to recover my breathing. He looks at me, his emerald eyes serious, not bright in the silver moonlight that day.

"One minute, 42 seconds. Lowest ever. Only _one fear_ as well."

"_One?_" I'm shocked. Looks like I've been found out. I can't lie- I'm part Candor in honesty. Jason moves to the computer, typing a series of actions onto the keyboard furiously. I stand up and he starts speaking.

"Go out the back door, and find Anna at the tailor shop. Stay there until you see me, because as you most likely know, you will get injured or killed if anyone not...sympathetic finds out."

I turn to walk out the back door, and look at him again. It's a whirlwind, my mind right now.

"I trust you," I say, "Thanks, Jason."

I close the steel door behind me and as normally as I can, continue to find Anna and wait.

_Patiently._

"I found one for you!" Anna cheerfully comes from the back storage area with what is my new jacket. I manage to smile. I feel lost even in Dauntless. Tori said that I would be killed in Erudite, and here isn't any better. In Candor you have to tell everything about yourself before you are accepted as a member. Then I would be killed right away once Erudite found me.

I guess that I will never be truly safe.

Anna hands it to me, where I take a couple of other articles of clothing, dresses and the like, and walk to one of the dressing rooms.

I make sure the door is locked first, then I strip off my clothes. I look at the tattoos that bind me here: the raven in flight, the Erudite symbol. I change into black leggings, sneakers and a long sleeved charcoal grey shirt. I examine the coat.

It's pure black leather, with two outside pockets. There are metal patches on the shoulders and sleeves, with a huge patch on the back of the coat. It has shiny silver zippers, and a collar. The main zipper bisects the coat. I unzip the coat, which is surprisingly light, and put it on. I feel the slots for my throwing knives, two inside pockets. I also feel a firm shape on both sides, equal. I gasp silently. Holders for guns... Pistols.

I snap out of it and look at my reflection, grabbing everything I have and making my way to the counter. I insist on paying, yet Anna refuses, so after I sit in a chair and wait. I make small talk with Anna, who seems pleasant enough, which eases me. I hear the roar of the Chasm in the distance, and wonder what will become of me, what Divergent really means.


End file.
